Imani shook her leg nervously as she sat next to Simone, eating her bowl of Cheerios. Her lower half was still sore from the day prior. She kept her head down, eating quietly. It was only a few more hours until she had to work, but still that was way too long for the seventeen-year-old.

“Finish up, you two, or you’re gonna be late for school,” Otis spoke to his biological daughters.

“I’ll take ‘em,” Simone offered, picking up her empty bowl. “Or Imani can take ‘em. You can go to work and they’ll just get dropped off on the way.”

Imani looked up from her bowl, going over to the sink with Simone.

“Oh, she think she running our house now,” Otis commented, chuckling. That sound alone made Imani’s hairs stand on end. She absolutely hated hearing his voice. Even someone else mentioning his name made her skin crawl. “I guess that’s what happens when you think you white.” Even the daughters giggled at what Otis said. “But you ain’t white, Simone. You or Imani ain’t no better than anybody else in this house.”

“I never said I was,”
“We never said we were,” the two retorted.

“Come on, kids, it’s time for school,” their foster mother, Miss Ruth, announced to the younger daughters.

“Miss Ruth, can you drop us off?” Simone asked, gently holding Imani’s hand.

“Sure, come on,” Miss Ruth agreed. Imani did not hesitate to grab her stuff.

“Oh, they ain’t gotta leave till later,” Otis intervened. “I’ll take ‘em.”

“No, I--I think I’d rather leave now,” Imani stammered.

“It’s no problem,” Otis insisted. “You go ahead, Ruth.”

Miss Ruth said nothing as she pulled her purse onto her shoulder. She took one last glance at the two girls left in the house before leaving. So close.

★

⚠ Sexual assault & murder

Imani sat with tears in her eyes as her lower half throbbed with pain. She wasn’t going to give that monster the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She knew that would only make it worse.

She sat on the floor in front of the bed, rocking back and forth, covering her ears as Simone got her turn. She hated seeing the young teen go through something like that. There was nothing she could do. She couldn’t move, fear and pain had her locked in place.

A knocking sound snapped her out of her thoughts. No one ever came to the Leecan residence. It wasn’t the cops, they didn’t call them. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. Was she hearing things? Maybe. She uncovered her ears to make sure she wasn’t.

“Hello?” a voice called out softly from downstairs. She could hear the creaking of the steps as someone came upstairs. It was a woman -- a teen, rather -- standing at the door of the room, looking at Simone. She was blonde, though it didn’t look like her natural hair color. She had green eyes and giant hoop earrings. She obviously knew Simone. Her eyes flicked over to Imani, who was about to say something. The blonde put her finger over her mouth, quietly telling them to be quiet. The blonde backed out of the doorway.

Imani kept her eyes glued to the door, praying that the blonde would come back. A few seconds later, the blonde returned, something glinting in her hand. A knife. She walked past Imani, sinking the knife into Otis’s back. Once, twice, three times. Over and over. The only thing that stopped her was Simone screaming for her to stop.

Simone pushed Otis’s body off of her, into the floor. She quickly got off of the bed, staring in shock. Imani crawled backwards on her hands, completely terrified.

“You killed him!” Simone screamed in shock. She put her hands on her head, crying. “Oh, my God. I want… I want Mama.”

The blonde looked over at Simone. She gently grabbed Simone’s arms. “Mama’s dead,” she told Simone. “She’s not coming back. I came for you.”

“Oh, God, no,” Simone muttered.

“Okay? Where does he keep his keys?” the blonde asked.

Simone was still in a panicked state. “In his…” she sobbed. The blonde asked her the question again. “Back pocket!”

“Go get your stuff,” the blonde ordered. Simone rushed out of the room as the blonde dug through Otis’s pocket for the car keys.

She was about to leave but Imani grabbed her arm. “Please, take me with you,” she begged. “Don’t leave me here. I don’t wanna go to jail. I-I’ll do anything-- just don’t leave me alone.”

The blonde helped Imani up. “Go get your stuff,” she told her softly. Imani nodded, quickly limping to her and Simone’s shared bedroom. She quickly stuffed clothes into a bookbag, sniffling.

She looked over to Simone, who was changing her clothes. “Who’s that girl?” she asked, taking out her stash of weed.

“My sister, Star,” Simone explained. “She’s the one I told you about when I first came here.”

Imani lit the joint, holding it in her mouth. The two hugged as Simone sighed. Their problem was gone. They were safe now.

★

“How long has he been doing that to you?” Star asked as Simone smoked her own weed in the passenger seat.

“What if they come looking for us?” Simone questioned.

“They won’t, okay?” Star told them. “Just put it out your head. You still sing?”

“Yeah, I still sing,” Simone answered. “Do you still sing?”

The two sisters started lightly singing Waterfalls by TLC. Imani smiled softly from the backseat as she thought of when she would sing for her grandmother before she was taken.

“You loved that song,” Star smiled. “I hated it so much. You played it every single day.”

“How we gon’ be stars, fool?” Simone asked.

“I got a plan,” Star said. “We’re gonna start in Atlanta.”

Imani looked towards Star when she heard where they were going. That’s where her grandmother lived. Also, where she found out her father was killed on duty. She wondered if her family still lived where they did, next to a sweet woman, Carlotta Brown. She hoped they would recognize her, now that she was covered in tattoos. She even missed her brother, Derek. The two were close. You couldn’t see one of them without the other following behind.

★

Imani offered to drive to New York, while Star slept in the backseat. They were going to get Star’s internet friend, Alexandra. She lived in the Upper East Side of New York, which is nothing like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Imani woke Star up just before she pulled in front of The Sutton Arms.

Star stepped out of the car as Imani returned to her spot in the back. She cracked open the window to get the smell of weed out of the car.

“What do you want?” the bellhop asked, turning his nose up at the blonde.

“It’s okay,” a feminine voice assured. Out came a young woman. Ebony skin, long, dark hair, and an expensive-looking outfit is the first thing Imani noticed. That’s Star’s friend? Wow.

“Good morning, Alexandra,” the bellhop greeted, hurrying to take Alexandra’s suitcase.

“Morning,” Alexandra greeted politely. “Thanks, Charles. Hello.”

“Damn, girl,” Star commented, walking with Alexandra to the car. “You straight off a page of Vogue. But you are shorter than I thought.”

“And you’re heavier than I thought,” Alexandra retorted.

Imani’s eyes widened as she held back a laugh. This Alexandra girl was cold. She knew the two of them would get along.

“Oh, my God,” Star exclaimed, taken aback.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Alexandra huffed.

“No second thoughts girl,” Star told her. “You’re the special hot in the sauce.”

“What’s going on with her?” Alexandra asked, looking at Simone, who was writing the word “Bitch” on the fogged window. Alexandra sighed. “Nevermind. Let’s just do this.” She got in the car, seeing Imani sitting behind the driver’s seat. “Who’s she?”

“I’m Imani,”  she greeted with a light wave. “I’m Simone’s friend.”

“Alexandra,” she greeted, pulling her purse on her lap.

★

The group made a pit stop at a cheap motel to sleep for the night. The four were sitting in pool chairs, eating chicken. Simone had headphones in, listening to a song Star and Alexandra were working on. She giggled as Imani, Alexandra, and Star ate and talked.

“I’m not getting my stuff stolen in this dive,” Alexandra spoke, pulling her bag closer to herself on her lap.

Imani chuckled.

“You’re actually ridiculous,” Star commented. “Well, everything ain’t Fendi and Prada, Alexandra.  You need to let your weave down, girl.”

Alexandra scoffed. “Oh, Blondie.” She ran her hand through her hair. “This is real. Not all black girls wear weaves.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Imani agreed. Star giggled.

“Your sister’s half black?” Alexandra asked, looking at Simone.

“Yeah, her dad was black,” Star informed. “Did you ever think when I hit you up on the ‘Gram you’d end up like this?”

“No,” Alexandra answered, turning her nose in the air. “But I’m glad you saved me. I mean, the music we’re making-- it’s my new life. I’m not going back.”

“Your parents cool with that?” Star asked. “How come you never mention them?”

Alexandra lightly shook her head. “My dad’s a surgeon,” she explained. “He likes going around talking about how many lives he’s saved. My mom’s dead.”

“At least you got a dad,” both Star and Imani said.

“What about you Imani?” Star asked. “How did you and Simone meet?”

“I met Simone when I was 11,” Imani informed. “She moved into the foster house I was in. I protected her. She talked about you, like, a lot.”

Star smiled and nodded.

“I’m actually from Atlanta,” Imani stated. “Yeah, I was taken from my grandmother after my dad died.”

“Then how’d you end up in Harrisburg?” Alexandra asked.

“The foster system doesn’t care where you get put,” Imani shrugged. “They just ship you off to anyone willing to take you in.”

“Yo…” Simone exclaimed, taking the headphones out. “This is so dope.” She stood up and handed Alexandra her phone, sitting down next to her. “Like… like, for real, I can’t even take it.”

Star laughed as Simone stood up again.

“All right, the verse should be in E minor,” Alexandra spoke, mostly to herself. “And then you can come in with--”

“I’mma knock ‘em down like Muhammed Ali,” Simone blurted out, singing the lyrics to the song, startling Alexandra. “Dropping like flies when I sting ‘em with the bee.” Simone put her finger in her mouth, making a popping sound. “Who shot ya? Who knocked ya?”

“Damn, girl!” Star chuckled as Simone continued singing.

“What…? Ew. What is that?” Alexandra asked, noticing a red stain on Simone’s shirt. Both Star’s and Imani’s face dropped. Blood. Blood that wasn’t her’s. “On your shirt?”

Simone’s face faltered a bit when she looked down. “Oh, it’s… barbecue sauce from those hot wings,” Simone lied, covering her shirt with her jacket.

“Looks more like blood to me,” Alexandra said, eyebrows furrowed. She wasn’t exactly sure that the red stain was from the wings, but if that’s what Simone said it was, then that was what it was, she guessed. She shook her head, dismissing her skepticism. “Anyway, I’m gonna go to sleep. Better get my beauty rest for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, girl!” Star cheered. “Atlanta in the morning!”

“If I don’t get mugged while I’m walking to my room,” she said, accusingly, side-eyeing Imani.

“You know, that Prada bag would sell great on eBay,” Imani joked, walking behind Alexandra, since the two shared a room with each other.

“Don’t even try it,” Alexandra chuckled, rolling her eyes.

“I wouldn’t even know what to do with a Prada bag, trust me,” Imani assured, walking into their motel room. Luckily, the rooms weren’t that bad. It was better than the room she lived in for the past seven years, that’s for sure.

★

The girls made it to Atlanta, still with hours left of the morning. Star pulled in front of a house, one that had God’s Blessing’s Beauty Salon. This was Imani’s old neighborhood. She wondered if she would be remembered. She and Star got out of the car, though Star preferred to go alone. Imani walked up the steps of the porch, pushing open the screen door. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the fact that Star, a white girl, walked into a salon full of black people, or if they instantly recognized Imani, but everyone in the salon stopped what they were doing.

“Is Carlotta here?” Star asked the woman at the front desk. The woman was beautiful, to say the least. Beautiful, mocha skin, dark hair and acrylic nails. She held a butterfly pen and she had a gold chain around her neck with the word Cotton on it in cursive.

“You find us on Groupon or something?” the receptionist asked.

“Let me see who the little white girl is, hold on,” a stylist told a customer. Imani wasn’t sure if the stylist was a man or a woman.

“Yeah, you’d be lucky to get on Groupon,” Star retorted.

“Carlotta’s my mama,” the receptionist told the blonde, making Imani slightly crinkle her eyebrows together. She didn’t remember Carlotta having a daughter, but then again, she wasn’t that invested in Carlotta’s life before the separation. “She ain’t here.”

“She at church,” another stylist informed them.

“Oh, okay. Well, when is she back?” Star asked.

“Why you want to know?” Carlotta’s daughter asked.

Star handed a stack of letters to Carlotta’s daughter.

“Oh, you one of Mary’s girls,” the stylist next to Carlotta’s daughter spoke up. “Baby, Carlotta about to gag, honey. She’s been looking for you and your sister a long time. Mm-hmm. You need your roots done, ASAP.”

“Okay, it’s nice to meet you, too,” Star smiled, sarcastically. She looked back to Carlotta’s daughter. “She like that every day?”

“Girl, yeah. She can’t help it. She ugly,” Carlotta’s daughter snarked.

Star laughed. She thanked Carlotta’s daughter and walked back to the car. Imani stayed inside, walking up to the front desk.

“Can I help you?” Carlotta’s daughter asked.

“Does Ruby Jones still live next door?” Imani asked, rubbing her hand over her Lauryn Hill tattoo.

“You are?” Carlotta’s daughter asked. “Miss Ruby don’t just give her information out to anybody.”

“I’m her granddaughter,” Imani told her, pulling the corner of her lip into her mouth.

Carlotta’s daughter dropped her pen on the desk and pushed herself to stand. “Imani?” she asked. Imani nodded. The two stylists that spoke to Star looked up when they heard Imani’s name.

“Oh, my God,” Carlotta’s daughter said. “She’s not at home right now, but she still lives next door.”

“Thanks,” Imani nodded. She walked out of the salon, back to the car. Guess they were going to church.

★

Imani sat on the other end of Carlotta Brown as they ate at the end of the church service. She couldn’t remember the last time she ate something that wasn’t out of a microwave.

“Good singing sure makes me hungry,” Carlotta sighed, cutting into her food.

“My arteries are clogging looking at it,” Alexandra grimaced.

“Girl, you’re too young to have arteries,” Carlotta commented. “I’m surprised you never set foot in a church.”

“Nothing wrong with being an atheist,” Alexandra smiled, leaning on her elbows.

Carlotta looked at Alexandra. “You gon’ burn,” she told her.

“What’s up, Miss C?” a voice greeted, putting his hands on her shoulders. It was a voice she didn’t recognize, but it also sounded familiar at the same time.

“Now, I know you came by for the food, ‘cause I certainly ain’t seen you in service,” Carlotta said to the young man.

“You know we was busy today with the activism thing. Come on,” the young man shrugged. He walked to the end of the table, noticing the girls at the table. “How y’all ladies doing? I’m Derek. I live next door to Miss Carlotta.”

Imani lifted her head from her food at the sound of her brother’s name. She always wondered what she would say to him if the two ever found each other again. Now that the time was here, Imani couldn’t find the words. She noticed Derek’s eyes kept drifting over to her’s, trying to figure out how he knew her.

“Y’all ladies have a nice day,” Derek said, as he started walking away. She could not let the chance to say something slip away. She needed to talk to her brother.

“Excuse me,” Imani said, politely as she stood up from her chair. She quickly shuffled over to Derek as he was walking. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Derek greeted back. His eyes searched her’s, looking for some sign of recognition of the girl.

“Does Grams still keep her weed stash in that wooden box on the bookshelf?” Imani blurted out, saying the first thing that came to her mind.

Derek stopped walking and looked over at her. There it was. The memories of the two playing together, dancing for Ruby, staying up late laughing at every little thing. They all came crashing back, like a wave hitting the shore. He thought he would never see his best friend again. He said the one word he thought he would never say again. “Imani?”

Tears already rolling down her face, Imani laughed and nodded.

“Oh, my God!” he exclaimed, not hesitating to pull her into a hug. “You’re so big now!” Imani let out a small gasp when her feet came off of the ground. Derek put her down, hands rested on her shoulders. The two were reunited once again, and they made sure they were gonna stay that way, no matter what.

★